Movie review Spider-man: Homecoming

Growing up, the friendly neighbourhood Spiderman was my favourite super hero. There was always something about a geeky kid being a superhero that gave me hope that I could be a superhero one day. Except I was too scared to get bitten by a spider to put it to the test!

CAUTION: Spoiler alert! If you haven't seen it and want to not know what happens, stop reading now.

There have been a few takes on this classic hero but this latest effort is by far my favourite. Tom Holland certainly fit my image of what Spidie should be like. He was funny, goofy and caring and desperate to do good.

So let's take a look at the positives and the negatives of the movie.

The actors nailed their roles. Especially Michael Keaton as the villain Vulture. There was a real authenticity to a guy who had been wronged by the system and turned to crime to look after his family. I almost felt sad for him when he was arrested. Tom Holland was brilliant as the frustrated hero being frustratingly mentored by Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.). Two other stand out for me were Jacob Batalon as Peter Parker's best friend Ned. I'm not sure there was a scene where I didn't laugh at his behaviour. It was great to see the best friend take on an important role in the way he did. The other Zendaya as Michelle (aka MJ). Her quirky and secretive ways added another aspect of the film that has been missing in other attempts.

Another positive was the absence of lots of sad and soppy love interest moments. Keeping it light kept the movie progressing without slowing for emotionally intense interactions.

In many ways it was a movie which saw the development of a teenager who could do amazing things into a maturing guy who took his role of a superhero seriously.

Some negatives. I have always believed that Spiderman's web was part of his mutation. Recent Spiderman movies make it something that he invents and uses it via a mechanical device. For me, and it really isn't a biggie, Spiderman isn't Spiderman if he has to make the web out of a test tube. I also thought Robert Downey Jr. looked a bit weary of the whole Iron Man role in this film. Perhaps it was because he was more of the fatherly mentor and not the billionaire playboy philanthropist role he normally plays.

One of the things that I can't help do when I watch a movie is look for themes that I associate with God. There is always the fight of good versus evil. In this film though, the bad guy wasn't particularly evil. That got me thinking that as humans, there is good and evil in all of us. Spiderman sought to do good (well mostly) and Vulture chose evil ways to achieve, in his mind, a good outcome. In our lives, we all have the chance to choose what we do and why. From a christian perspective, we can choose to follow the example of Jesus in our lives. We can choose to make our decisions based on building others up instead of making decision that profit us but damage others.

Overall I thought this movie was absolutely fantastic! I love superhero movies.